Pacific Rim 2: Charlie Hunnam Not Returning

Pacific Rim: Maelstrom, the upcoming sequel to the 2013 science fiction film featuring giant robots battling giant monsters, has seen its fair share of ups and downs since it was announced in 2014. The highly-anticipated sequel was originally scheduled for an April 2017 releasebefore being pushed back by Universal Pictures to August 4, 2017. Back in January of this year, we reported that the film was officially shelved and lost in production hell.

Pacific Rim 2 was thankfully revived in late February with new director Steven S. DeKnight taking the helm and previous director and horror-master Guillermo del Toro serving as producer. The film is said to be moving full steam ahead with the promising addition of Star Wars: The Force Awakens star John Boyega to the cast.

At San Diego Comic-Con 2016 over the weekend, Charlie Hunnam revealed while promoting King Arthur: Legend of the Sword that he will not be reprising his starring role as hero Raleigh Becket in the Pacific Rim sequel. Hunnam explained that this is due to scheduling conflicts and he just wasn’t available during filming.

Just a few short days ago Pacific Rim director Guillermo del Toro was asked by THR, who would be reprising their roles in the sequel, mainly if Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi are going to return. His response was rather vague, but still gave fans hope that the main stars might show their faces:

“As a producer I learned not to declare anything about a movie I’m not directing. I can tell you this — a lot of the cast from the first movie is coming back. I leave those communications to [Pacific Rim 2 director] Steven DeKnight. He’s not only a director, but he’s actually a guy I respect and admire and it’s his movie.”

When asked about the addition of John Boyega of Star Wars fame to the cast, del Toro sang high praises:

“I admire him tremendously. The idea for me is that this is a continuation of the great leadership character that was Idris Elba. It’s a very different character but I love the idea of having a main character who is not a white Anglo-Saxon guy. Before the heated conversation about diversity in film started we were doing Pacific Rim. And I think that universe is a huge proponent of that.”